Destiny and Fortune
by Queen Nan Boleyn
Summary: After spending years in the French Court, Anne Boleyn has returned to her native England to find that it was turned upside down. King Henry, once satisfied with his marital life, is now looking to divorce her and marry another woman, Jane Seymour, and is willing to do whatever it takes to get his divorce. Will Anne be able to make it in this new English Court? (AU!)


Author's Note: I know that the "Jane is the second wife, Anne is the third wife" plot has been done quite a few times, but I wanted to try my hand at it because its always been an AU idea that I admire! And for those of you who follow my first story, The Most Happy– don't worry, an update will be coming soon.

Just a little worldbuilding: in this AU, Anne Boleyn was not recalled from France to marry her cousin, James Butler, and instead stayed in France until 1528, the year that this story begins. Mary Boleyn was still recalled back from France in 1519 and married Henry Carey, although in this story she was never Henry's mistress. That role falls to Dorothy Seymour! Also, in this AU, assume that Anne was born in 1508.

That being said, I've changed the birth years of a few of the Seymour siblings to fit the world that I've envisioned for this story: Dorothy Seymour was born in 1501, Jane Seymour in 1504 and Elizabeth Seymour in 1506. Edward and Thomas Seymour were still born in their historical birth years of 1500 and 1508, respectively.

Also– I've stuck with the Tudors's version of Henry's siblings, so instead of having two sisters, Mary and Margaret, he just has Margaret Brandon, the Duchess of Suffolk.

Enjoy!

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**PROLOGUE: **A Queen and Her Lady

_July 29th, 1528_

After spending years away from her home country to live in the splendor and awe of King Francis's court, Anne was thrilled to finally be back in England– although she couldn't help but have mixed feelings about her purpose for returning. For one, she had only found out the news of her summons back to England not two weeks ago, and was not given much time to say goodbye to the friends that she had acquired in France. Another reason was because that she wasn't returning for _her _benefit; she was returning for her father's.

While Anne was aware that she had received a place in the Queen's household as a lady-in-waiting, she was not blind to the fact that her father probably sought to use her position to court more favor for himself. She was also not blind to the fact that the Queen's position was worsened everyday, as it was now common knowledge that King Henry sought to replace Queen Catherine with a lady by the name of Jane Seymour. If the rumors that she had heard about the woman in France were true, then it was true that this Lady Jane Seymour had once been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen as well; something that made her stomach churn. Perhaps that was her father's plan, to have her catch the King's attention while she attended Queen Catherine and seduce him into setting aside Jane Seymour for herself.

But Anne would not allow that to happen; according to the gossip of the French court, Jane Seymour's name was now equivalent to that of the whore Jezebel in the eyes of England's court as well as its common people, and Anne herself had seen the brunt of what being a King's mistress would get her: Mary, her own sister, was reviled as 'the Great Prostitute,' after having been the mistress of King Francis for a short period of time. No, Anne had kept her maidenhood during those formidable years in France, and she would keep her maidenhead in England as well, until such a time would come when Anne found a husband.

Anne's thoughts raced as she was led into the Queen's chambers by another lady-in-waiting to the Queen. In truth, she did not expect herself to get along with the Queen, as Queen Catherine was a staunch Catholic, while she herself was interested in the beliefs and the ideals of reformers. There was also the fact that, according to what George had told her, being in Queen Catherine's household was boring.. and Anne did not like to be bored, to say the least. Still, she couldn't help but feel pity for the Queen. It must have been hard, suffering through multiple stillborns and miscarriages, with only one child surviving, only to have her husband push her aside and intend to become married to a woman that was the daughter of such a lower birth rank than herself.

She swallowed roughly as she was led into the leisurely part of the Queen's apartments, where the Queen herself was sitting, sewing what looked like shirts for somebody.

"Your Majesty," The lady-in-waiting that led Anne into the Queen's quarters curtsied before her mistress, leading Anne to do the same. As they rose from the curstey, she gestured to Anne. "This is Lady Anne Boleyn, daughter of the Viscount Rochford."

"Mistress Boleyn," The Queen greeted her warmly, a smile on her face as she examined her newest Lady. While the number of those who came to her had gradually started to decrease since her husband began to openly court his mistress, Jane Seymour, it was always nice to have a new lady-in-waiting, someone that she could hopefully put trust in and share blessed moments with. "Welcome to court."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Anne returned the smile that the Queen gave her, heart pounding wildy in her chest as she spoke. She thought it was strange that she was nervous while meeting the Queen, as she had grown up surrounded by royalty in the French court and Austrian Netherlands, but it was different then– as she was not a citizen of either country. She was an Englishwoman, and meeting an English royal was an entirely different creature.

"I trust that you will be most welcome here," Catherine continued, her smile not fading from her face. She had heard a great deal of things about Mistress Boleyn from her sister, who also served as a lady-in-waiting for her for a period of time, as well as from her father. Apparently, Mistress Boleyn was well-educated, witty, and funny– a far cry from the Concubine, Jane Seymour. "What talents do you have, Mistress Boleyn?"

"I am fluent in many languages, Your Majesty. French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, and Ancient Greek, to name a few; I have also picked up some Austrian from my time in the Netherlands, although not much." Anne said, a proud smile on her face. "I also love to dance, sing, and play instruments. The virginial and lute are favorites of mine, and I also consider myself to be an excellent conversationalist, and I love to engage in debate."

Catherine raised her eyebrows in surprise. It seemed that Mistress Boleyn really was as talented as it has been said. "You are a woman of many talents, it seems. I would be honored to have you in my household." She smiled at Anne again; a warm, genuine smile, before she lowers her voice. "In truth, I believe that there are some spies in my household, no doubt the work of Cardinal Wolsey. I do not know who I can and cannot trust."

"You can trust me, Your Majesty." Anne vowed, her voice grave. Although she thought that she would dislike Queen Catherine, on account of her staunch Catholicism, she can see now that the Queen was a nice woman, who certainly did not deserve what was happening to her. She did not know anything about this Jane Seymour, other than what had been told to her with rumors, but she believed that the King was making a mistake in setting aside his wife.

"I am glad, Mistress Boleyn." Catherine smiled. "Very glad."

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And there you have it! Sorry that this chapter is so short, but alas, its just the prologue. The next update should be here soon, but I really needed to introduce Catherine and Anne, since they are the two main characters along with Henry and Jane. Henry and Jane will be in the next chapter, and youll see both of their points of view.

In the meantime, before the update, I've finally figured out how to put polls on my profile, so I have a poll on my profile about Jane Seymour's fate in this story. Please take it!

As always, I love comments and criticisms!


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